Vreede , Isaac van (d. 1682)

Isaac van Vreede (Vreeden, Vrede, Vreden), d. 1682, was chosen in March 1662 as a preacher of the Flemish Mennonite congregation (bij't Lam) at Amsterdam, Holland. After the schism in this church (see Lammerenkrijgh), van Vreede sided against Galenus Abrahamsz with the con­servative leaders like Samuel Apostool and in June 1664 became a preacher in the Zonist church at Amsterdam. But here he did not feel at home. In 1670 he left the congregation with his co-preacher Pieter van Eyssen and founded the "Kleine Zon" congregation. In 1675 van Vreede left this group, founding the small congregation of "Het Sterretje." Being dismissed because of his quarrel­some intolerance he moved to Gouda, where he was called as preacher (1677) of the (Lamist) Mennonite congregation. It is one of the curiosities of history that this man, who had been a champion of the utmost strictness and had sharply attacked Galenus Abrahamsz and his ideas in Vrede-Presentatie aan Galenus Abrahamsz en zijne Mede-stemmers (Amsterdam, 1664), in 1679 invited his former opponent to perform baptism and administer the Lord's Supper at Gouda.